Plaiting attachment for sewing-machines



(No Model.)

Patented 'Nov. 23, 1880.

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FIG.5.

INVENTOR K Lu. I

WITNESSES ATTORNEY.

T041114OGRAPHER W'ASHINGTON D C Usrren rates Arrmr rrrce.

CHARLES L. KELLOGG, OF GASPORT, NEW YORK.

PLAITING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING=MACH|NES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letterslatent No. 234,677, dated November 23, 1880.

Application filed June 15, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES LISTERN KEL- LOGG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gasport, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Plaitin g Attachments for Sewing-llachines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification, in which Figure l is a front view of a plaiter constructed according to my improvement; Fig. 2, a transverse section through the line 00 w on Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a detail showing the plaiting-iinger in two positions; Fig. 4, another detail showing the pawl and spring in a reversed position from that shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 a detail showing the rack-bar in cross-section and an end view of the trip.

This invention relates to that class of plaiting-machines wherein the rack-bar carrying the plaiting-finger is operated by a reversible pawl; and the improvement consists in the details of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, and then pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, A represents the supporting-frame, consisting of two plates, to and b, which are united by lugs c, forming part of plate I), which are passed through apertures in the plate a, and soldered or otherwise secured thereto, and the contiguous edges of .the plates are also soldered, so as to make in effect the two plates into one. The plate a is L- shaped in cross-section, and has at its upper part the arm d, to which is secured the elbowlever B by a pin, screw, or rivet, e, which acts as a fulcrum for said lever. One arm of this lever is provided with the usual loop to receive the screw of the needle-carrier, and the. other has the reversible pawl G pivoted to it. The pawl has attached to it a wire yoke, j, which is depressed in the middle, as shown, which yoke carries a slide, g, having an ear, through which is passed one end of the spring D, the other end being attached to a lug, h, projecting from the top of the elbow-lever.

The rack-bar E is formed of sheet metal bent into L-shaped form. The vertical part has a series of notches, in which the pawl O catches, and has firmly secured to it, by soldering or otherwise, the fixed trip F and a small L-shaped piece, 'i, the latter forming, in conjunction with the vertical side of the rack-bar, a bearing for the rocking arm G, which carries the plaitingfinger H at its outer or free extremity.

Attached to the plate i) are two guides, I I, in which the horizontal part of the rack-ha slides as it is moved by the pawl.

J is the shoe for the presser-foot of the ma chine to rest on, having one end attached to a bar connected with the plate I), and having its free end turned up to rest against the end of the presser-foot.

K represents an adjustable trip, which is made of the form clearly shown in Fig. 5, having its lowerend bent, so as to tightly embrace the horizontal part of the rack-bar E. This construction admits of the trip being very cheaply made and attached, as well as readily adjusted, as it dispenses with the screw or ratchet fastenin gs heretofore used with adj ustable trips in plaiting-machines, and the trip is securely held in the desired position, because the spring-clasp readily holds wherever it is placed, and from its position on the horizontal part of the rack-bar it is not readily moved by the action of the pawl, as the opposite edges of the clasp bite on said horizontal part of the rack-bar, which thus prevents the clasp sliding when the trip is struck by the pawl.

Pivoted to a corner of the fixed trip F is an adjustable stop, L, having a pin at l, which catches into either of a series of holes (shown in dotted lines) in the trip, so as to adjust it in several positions, for a purpose hereinafter explained.

To operate this machine it is attached, in the usual or in any convenient manner, either to the table or presser bar or foot of a sewingmachine, and motion given to the elbow-lever B by the movement of the needle-bar in the ordinary manner, which motion causes the pawl (J to'give the rack-bar E and finger H a movement to the left, and as the bar E begins to move the friction of the bow or bottom not the rocking arm G causes the finger H to be depressed on the material, and as itmoves forward said finger H pushes the material for ward under the shoe J, thus forming a plait. As soon as the trip F has traveled far enough to touch the end of the pawl its inclined under surface depresses the end of the pawl nearest to it, thus causing said pawl to assume 1he position shown in Fig. 4, the slide 9 moving automatically to the opposite side of the yoke, so that the spring D causes the other end of the pawl to come into action, and thus the feed of the rack-bar is reversed. As soon as the rack-bar begins its retrograde motion the friction on the bow it causes the end of the finger H to rise, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and thus there is no friction on the material being plaited during the backward motion of the finger, which is a great advantage when the material has loose fibers or such as will be likely to be injured by friction on its surface. As the rack-bar travels backward the trip K comes in contact with an arm, 0, projecting from the end of the pawl, causing the latter and the slide and spring to again assume the position shown in Fig. 1, and the forward motion of the rack-bar Hagain begins. The position of the adj ustablc trip can be read ily changed on the rack-bar, and the friction of the clasp on the bottom will securely hold the trip in position, and thus the size of the plaits can be readily changed.

From this description of the operation it will be seen that the continued movement of the lever B will give the rackbar E and finger H a continual motion in opposite directions alternately, whereby a succession of plaits may be formed with great regularity and without the fraying of the surface of the material which those plaiters are liable to that drag the finger over the material when traveliug backward.

By changing the position of the stop L to that shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the pawl cannot reverse, as its right-hand end will catch against the projection s on the bottom of the stop L, and thus the pawl will simply push the rack-bar and finger slightly backward, and as the lever and pawl moves in the other direction the opposite end of the pawl will catch in one of the notches in the rack-bar and push it and the tin gers in the opposite direction, thus giving the latter a motion in both directions at each stitch and converting the plaiter into a most efficient ruffler, which will gather ruffles with the greatest nicety and regularity. By setting the pin Zin difi'erent holes in the trip the size of the gathers in the ruffle may be varied.

In lieu of the plate-stop L, a screw may be used which will occupy the position of the projection on said plate; or any other device may be used which will prevent the trip F from reversing the pawl 0.

Although I have shown a yoke formed of wire, yet it is obvious that it may be made in one piece with the pawl; and it is also obvious that, instead of the slide g being used, the loop of the spring may be passed around the yoke, and the slide thus dispensed with.

What I claim as new is- 1. In a plaiting attachment, the combination of the supporting-frame A, lever B, spring D, and reversible pawl 0, having yoke f, with the rack-bar D and trips K F, substantially as described.

2. The reversible pawl 0, provided with a curved yoke or guide having its ends raised and the center depressed, as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination or the L-shaped rackbar E with the adjustable spring-tip K, bent around the horizontal part of the rack-bar and held thereto by its spring-clasp, and the fixed trip F, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

at. The combination, with the bed-plate b, of the rackbar E, and means, substantially as described, for reciprocating the same, rocking arm G, and plaiting-fingcr H, substantially as specified.

5. The combination, with the supportingframe A, of the rack-bar E, lever B, pawl 0, having yokef, spring D, trips F K, rocking arm G, and plaiting-finger H, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the supportingframe A, of the rack-bar E, lever B, pawl U, having yoke f, spring D, adjustable trip K, fixed trip F, and swinging stop L, pivoted to the fixed trip F and provided with the projection 8, substantially as described.

7. The combination, in a plaiting attachment, of the supporting-frame A, lever B, pawl (l, having yokef, spring D, rack-bar E, trips F K, arm G, finger II, and shoe J, substantially as described.

8. The combination of the supporting-t'rame A, carrying the shoe J, lever B, pawl O, having yoke f, and the spring D, with the rack-bar E, trips F K, and adjustable stop L, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES LlS'lERN KELLOGG.

Witnesses:

A. B. ROBERTSON,

GEO. F. GRAHAM.

ICC 

